Wanted: Nosey parkers to monitor police CCTV cameras

Spy camera: Officials at Dorset Police want volunteers to watch live footage from 26 cameras across three towns in a bid to detect crime

Police leaders and civil liberty groups have condemned a scheme to use unpaid civilian volunteers to monitor CCTV footage instead of trained and paid professionals.

Dorset Police is advertising for members of the public to watch live images from street security cameras across three towns to help spot crimes and anti-social behaviour.

The volunteers, who will be given training and will have to sign a confidentiality agreement, will help man a control room in unpaid four-hour shifts.

They will alert the police to any signs of suspicious behaviour in Blandford, Shaftesbury and Gillingham, expanding an existing scheme covering the town of Wimborne.

Officials at Dorset Police want the 'nosy parkers' to sit watching live footage from 26 cameras across three towns in a bid to detect crime.

Applicants for the Orwellian offer should be able to 'concentrate for long periods of time' and have good visual skills.

Successful candidates must then help to man a control room and watch out for any suspicious behaviour.

If they do notice anything untoward, the 'Big Brother' volunteers will alert police officers to the scene.

The job is open to all residents in the county who are able to work four-hour unpaid shifts on weekdays and weekends.

But the scheme has angered many who believe it is intrusive and is a further erosion of our civil liberties.

Resident Tony Marks described it as a charter for 'nosy parkers' and said if there were officers on the beat it wouldn't be necessary.

Mark Wallace from the Tax-Payers Alliance described Dorset Police's idea as a 'concern'.

He said: 'I think it is a concern that things have got so bad that police need volunteers to monitor CCTV.

'Increasing numbers of the general public are concerned about invasion of privacy involved with CCTV.

'There will now be even fewer guarantees about the integrity and professionalism because of who is doing it.'

One of the reasons why Conservative MP David Davis recently stood down to fight a bi-election was due to the erosion of civil liberties, including the increase in CCTV.

Dorset Police has decided to take on the civilians after a similar scheme proved successful in Wimborne.

Four volunteers have been monitoring cameras in the town for the last four years and its CCTV system has just had a 70,000 pounds upgrade.

The force is now looking for civilians to expand the scheme into Blandford, Shaftesbury and Gillingham.

They will sign a confidentiality agreement before working shifts on Friday and Saturday nights.

Officers say the peak time they would like the cameras watched is between 11pm and 3am.

They are to look out for crimes including graffiti spraying, public order offences, shop lifting and criminal damage.

Inspector Phil Cheverton, section commander for North Dorset, said: 'We are looking for anyone over 18 who would like to monitor our live CCTV cameras.

'The offer is open to as many people as possible as we don't want them to feel as though they have to come in all the time.

'We want it to be a contribution they enjoy doing together. Training will be provided.

'All the volunteers will be taught about confidentiality and will sign a form of agreement.

'This will say that they must not discuss with anyone else anything they have viewed, seen or heard.

'The information they gain must not be used for any other purpose other than policing.

'The volunteers will also be given a list of rules to reinforce this issue of confidentiality.

'Everything must be kept secret or the entire system fails.'

Inspector Cheverton said the police do not currently monitor their CCTV cameras as the crime level is 'too low'.

He said: 'It would be totally wrong to say that we are recruiting volunteers because we don't have enough time to do it ourselves.

'Our CCTV system is not permanently monitored because it isn't cost effective as our crime levels are so low in Dorset.

'If our crime rate was high then it would be monitored all the time but as it currently stands we would be wasting tax-payers money to employ someone to do it.

'We are an intelligence-led force so we monitor CCTV as an when we need it.'

He added that CCTV has made a 'significant' impact on street crime across his division.

He said: 'CCTV has featured in the investigations of various assaults where we have been able to show clear footage of offenders.

'We have seen criminal damage drop and public order offences fall.

'Certainly they are proving to be a strong crime prevention tool and prevention is as important as cure.'

But Clive Chamberlain, chairman of the Dorset Police Federation, which represents rank-and-file officers, condemned the volunteer plan as 'Dad's Army' policing on the cheap, blaming it on poor funding levels.

'Dorset Police is not a charity shop or a hospital canteen, and we should not have to depend on asking people to come in for nothing,' he said.

Michael Warr, the CCTV coordinator for Blandford, said he is looking for volunteers to help monitor his town plus Shaftesbury and Gillingham.

He said: 'We are looking for volunteers with good visual and communication skills.

'They must also have the ability to concentrate for long periods at a time.

'Some technical ability in basic computer literacy would be beneficial but full training will be provided.'

But a spokesman for civil rights campaign group Liberty said officers out on the beat is the best method of crime prevention.

He said: 'CCTV is not a magic bullet. While it can provide evidence that could lead to a conviction, it has limited crime prevention powers.

'Studies show that the most effective way of curbing crime is regular, consistent police patrolling and good street lighting.'

The announcement comes just weeks after a cyclist was asked to check CCTV footage himself after his bike was stolen at a train station in West Sussex.

Richard Deakin, 23, was told by officers at British Transport Police to watch the security videos himself as they did not have the time.

And the policy seems in stark contrast to the increasing numbers of officials who stop amateur photographers taking pictures in public in case they are paedophiles.

This week, two elderly widows were told by a council official in Southampton to stop photographing an empty paddling pool.